Fraud Schemes When Shopping on Online Platforms

“All payment methods are generally safe as long as they are carried out with care by the account holder,” says Alexandra Schiefer, Head of Fraud Prevention at ING Germany. “Nevertheless, more and more people are falling for fraudsters when buying or selling on online platforms. The security gap is usually the people themselves.”

That said, many fraud schemes should be known. The fraudsters

• disguise themselves as employees of reputable companies and suggest technical support. The aim is to obtain sensitive information by manipulating the conversation in a clever way.
• build fake websites that now look as real as the original. Thus, providing a place for supposedly serious interaction with the victims. They conduct what appear to be live customer support chats with real people, where victims are tricked into entering personal information and releasing transactions.
• lure victims to the fake sites of alleged sellers or buyers with fake classified ads for seemingly insignificant, low-priced consumer goods.
• send links via messenger service or e-mail that lead to the fake websites and trick victims into releasing data.

Psychological tricks of the scammers

Alexandra Schiefer explains the psychological tricks used by fraudsters to show why even well-informed, tech-savvy people fall for them:

• Fraudsters like to use the “principle of small steps”, because people strive to act consistently and without contradiction. According to the motto: Whoever says A also wants to say B. For example, if someone has agreed to a purchase on a classifieds portal, they don’t want to back out.
• The trick of disguising oneself as a technical support employee is based on the “principle of reciprocity”. I help you, therefore you also have to do something for me, such as disclosing data or enable actions. This also exploits the trust in people as opposed to technology.
• Another psychological trick is to refer to what is well-known, for example logos of reputable companies. In addition, artificial pressure is often built up to induce victims to commit rash acts.